Tips for wiring an unfinished basement

I wired the newly constructed apartment on the second floor of my house and now I feel ready to tackle wiring my basement (I'm not turning this into an apartment). The thing is my basement is open & unfinished and will remain open & unfinished for the time being, but the space is used. This means obviously routing the electrical wires through the ceiling joists and, I guess, letting outlet boxes drop from the ceiling where I want power.

I know this isn't normal or to code, but any tips running electrical for this situation? Or is there a better way to provide power outlets for a stud-less, wall-less, open & unfinished basement?

Thanks in advance

P.S. - Finishing the basement will be done in a year or two when the budget allows it. For now, I still want to use the space.

This means (making a plan for) routing the electrical wires through the ceiling joists (to known and potential future use points) and, I guess, letting outlet boxes (and wire secured to the exterior wall) from the ceiling where I want power (and/or device boxes secured to the bottom of the joists like lights are).

My goodness, I didn't even consider conduits and steel boxes! Very smart! Though I do dread working with conduits... can I minimize the use of them by only using them from the bottom of the ceiling joist to the steel outlet box? If not, is there a different type of conduit that is easier to work with? I only ask these questions because I didn't want to spend more money on electrical for the basement (plus I stupidly bought standard electrical outlets already) and I wanted this to be a quick project since the finished work will be relatively temporary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oh'mike

Attach the boxes to the wall with short nails shot from a .22 cal stud gun.

That means I'd be attaching the boxes to the cement wall. Will the method you describe work on a cement wall or do I need to use special screws and manually hammer them in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TarheelTerp

...from the ceiling where I want power (and/or device boxes secured to the bottom of the joists like lights are).

I'm not sure what you mean here - you mean putting junction boxes in the ceiling joist? If so, for what purpose?

I'm not sure what you mean here - you mean putting junction boxes in the ceiling joist? If so, for what purpose?

You said the basement is open and unfinished (for now at least)... right?
If so then you shouldn't need more than a few lights and a few receptacles down there. This wire (romex) can easily be run through the joists to device boxes. Those boxes (lights or receptacles) can be mounted to the joist.

If you need more than just a few lights or receptacles or if you want to plan your homeruns to meet the future plans... that's good too.

Clearer?
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I can't see any reason to use conduit unless you're in Chicago.

Last edited by TarheelTerp; 05-19-2012 at 03:47 PM.

The Following User Says Thank You to TarheelTerp For This Useful Post:

You said the basement is open and unfinished (for now at least)... right?
If so then you shouldn't need more than a few lights and a few receptacles down there. This wire (romex) can easily be run through the joists to device boxes. Those boxes (lights or receptacles) can be mounted to the joist.

If you need more than just a few lights or receptacles or if you want to plan your homeruns to meet the future plans... that's good too.

Clearer?
---

I can't see any reason to use conduit unless you're in Chicago.

Very clear, thanks. I got tripped up on the device boxes thing, never heard them called that.

Why do you say you can't see any reason to use conduit outside of Chicago?